


Choose

by badskippy



Category: Original Work
Genre: Choices, Future, Gen, Metaphor, Mystery, metaphor for so many things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 18:00:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13886148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badskippy/pseuds/badskippy
Summary: a young boy ... caught between this world and the next ... or is it the past and the future ... or is it simply the moment when one learns to choose their own path.





	Choose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whyisitclever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whyisitclever/gifts).



> this is my first original work ... based on my own concept and ideas ... my first, small step

* * *

 

* * *

 

 

            “Don’t run too far ahead!” his father called out.

            But how could he not?  The forest seemed to beckon to him.  The gentle rustle of the trees, the birdsong, the soft kiss of the breeze on his skin; all seemed to call him onward.  

            “Sweetheart!  Wait for us!” his mother pleaded.

            For a moment, he giggled at the thought of turning back, even as he turned his head to see his parents, just small moving figures, dozens of meters on the trail behind him.   In the next second, he turned to peer at the misty path ahead and once more thought he heard the forest breathe out his name.

            So, he ran.

            Within minutes he was surrounded by the trees and bush.  The way ahead and the way back looked the same as if he were standing between two mirrors that reflected eternity in each other.  

            The birdsong was gone now and the air was still.  The smell of pine and balsam was mixed with the subtle scent of moist soil and only the call of an eagle, somewhere overheard, sounded in his ears.  When he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the living things around him, hidden though they were.  He should have been cautious.  He should have been wary.  He should be have been afraid.

            But he was not.

            He seemed to _feel_ movement, and when he opened his eyes, he could have sworn he saw a figure up ahead, clad in a deep green cloak the same color as the flora around it, standing still and watching him, though no face could be seen.

_Why do you hesitate?_

            There was no voice.  Not one he heard with his ears.  Yet the question hung in the air none the less.

_Why take a path if you do not wish to see it to the end?_

            He had been curious, for sure.  But that was not the reason.  He knew it and he sensed that the cloaked figure knew it too.

_Come.  Follow._

            He heard his parents calling his name.  But they sounded far away.

_Back is the past … the future is always forward._

            He blinked and the cloaked figure was gone.  Had it ever even been there?

            He heard his parents calling him once more; they sounded a little more urgent and insistent.  He could almost taste the panic in their voices.  He glanced back their way and then turned once more forward.

_Choose._

            His feet made the choice before he did.

            He ran ahead and never looked back again.

 

 

 


End file.
